Some heat, but not enough sizzle from Eli Manning and the offense, some points, but not enough to make anyone feel safe. The clocking running down, the Giants on the field on defense and winning or losing hanging precariously in the balance.

“It’s the NFL, it’s never gonna be — well, not never — very, very rare is it one-sided or more than a two-score game,’’ linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. “It’s always close, always comes down to less than a touchdown. I always have it in my mind it’s gonna be a close game, defense is gonna have to win the game.’’

It is a good thing for all the Giants to keep in mind, because somehow, some way, they have found a system that works for them. On a chilly and windy Sunday afternoon, Manning found rookie Sterling Shepard on a 15-yard touchdown pass to finally put the Giants in front midway through the third quarter, but the next 20 or so minutes was a slog to finally subdue the miserable, depleted Bears. Five times, Manning and the offense got the ball back and did nothing with it, leaving it up to a defensive unit that is accustomed to this sort of heavy lifting.

Jay Cutler, who always has a potent fastball, got the Bears to the Giants’ 30-yard line in the closing minutes, but that’s where the Giants finally flexed their muscles. Jason Pierre-Paul, completing a throwback outing, got the fourth fourth-quarter sack of Cutler and one play later, Landon Collins again saved the day with a game-clinching interception with 1:11 remaining in an inelegant 22-16 victory at MetLife Stadium.

The Giants do nothing easy, but are 7-3 and have their first five-game winning streak since 2010. The Bears fell to 2-8 and 0-6 on the road.

“I do believe we have a championship atmosphere in this locker room,’’ veteran receiver Victor Cruz said.

After sweeping a rare three-game homestand, the Giants will hit the road for a game in Cleveland with the 0-11 Browns, meaning there is a golden opportunity to head into December on a serious roll. The Giants are winning even though their offense continues to ebb and flow, struggling to nudge past 20 or so points. Rashad Jennings (85 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries) ran well early, but not so well late. Manning fired a scoring pass to tight end Will Tye on the Giants’ opening drive of the second half, then scrambled for a first down with a 4-yard gallop to keep alive the drive that ended with the touchdown toss to Shepard.

Perhaps what the Giants did best with the ball was not turn it over and keep Manning clean, as he was not sacked, much to the delight of their offensive line and to the consternation of Bears linebacker Pernell McPhee.

It was McPhee leading up to the game who declared “We’re gonna tear their ass up’’ and promised “We’re gonna sack him. I’m gonna make sure of that.’’

Um, no.

“I don’t blame him, he tried to get his team fired up, it didn’t work,’’ right tackle Bobby Hart said. “Unfortunately, you still got to go out there and play the game. I guess that’s where it bit him

“I let him know all game. He’s not even in there all the time. I was kinda confused, I was like ‘What you keep going out for? You’re not even playing the entire time.’ He just tried to get his boys going, I don’t blame him.’’

McPhee afterward said, “I was saying what I felt at the time, but obviously we didn’t do it.’’

The Giants trailed 16-6 in the second quarter and looked as if they might be falling into the trap game their head coach, Ben McAdoo, insisted did not exist.

“Tale of two halves today,’’ McAdoo said. “I’m proud of the way the guys responded at halftime. Came out with the fire burning.’’

It is not as if the Giants were doing much to impress on defense in the first half, as rookie running back Jordan Howard took pitchouts and gained 72 of the Bears’ 88 rushing yards — far too much on a defense that came in allowing only 92 yards per game. The Bears rushed eight times for 5 yards in the second half.

“We took a stand in the second half,’’ Casillas said.

With the wind gusting, Robbie Gould missed two extra points for the Giants and Bears kicker Connor Barth missed one.

It was that sort of day for the Giants, until their defense pitched a second-half shutout and suffocated Cutler in the final quarter.

“I’d like to win by more points and I’m sure the whole offense does,’’ Shepard said. “If that’s the way we have to get wins than that’s just the way we have to do it. As long as we keep getting wins I don’t think it matters.’’